Loom for weaving tufted fabrics



March 29, 1932.

C. ALVORD v LOOM FOR WEAVING TUFTED FABRICS Filed Oct. 10, 1929' INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 2 9, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT! OFFICE- cannon anvoan, or

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WORCESTER LOOK WORKS, OI! WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS LOO]! IOR WEAVING-TUFTED FABRICS Application filed October 10, 1929. Serial 110. 898,648.

This invention relates to looms for weaving tufted fabrics, and especiall to broad looms weaving rugs twelve. to fteen feet wide.

c The main object of this invention is to rovide adequate means for keeping the abric from shrinking laterally during the process of weaving in order that the warp yarns. may register with the spaced tuft l0'guides when the tubes are passed down throu h the warp during the tuft forming an A further object is to provide means that will cause the loom to produce a tufted fabric 15 in which the tufts show through at back of the oods, after the manner of the well known %)riental weaves with the tuft yarns brou ht up snugly in'contact with the back we t yarns of the fabric so as to form 39 an evenly woven back for the carpeting.

These and other objects are shown in the drawings, described inthe application and pointed out in the claims.

When tube-like yarn guides, such as are a used in the weaving of tufted fabrics, are caused to enter the warp of a loom during the process of interweaving, the tufts with the fabric, and in which the tufts are bound under the weft, it is necessary to retain the fabric, and consequently the warp, at a con- I stant width so that the several strands of warp will remain in register with the spaced tuft guides. In Axminster carpeting this has been accomplished by using jute weft because the relatively light cotton warp strands cannot crimp the rather stifi *iveft and it is the takeup due to crimping of the weft that causes the fabric to shrink in width. When cotton is used for weft in such fabrics the warp will succeed in crimping thecotton weft and consequently the fabric will shrink laterally at the fell and. draw the warp strands, esplecially on the edges, out of register with t tubes. A nine foot wide rug may shrink as much as" three inches in width. Thiswill prevent a proper insertion of the tufts. As

the seamless-rugs became popular and increased in width to twelve and even fifteen feet, this lateral shrinkage became even more th face of the fabric while that portion of the .guides are raised up and the tufts sheared ofi e tuft harmful. This is especiall true with tufted carpeting in which the pi e shows through at the back of the fabric as it must do when imitating the well known Oriental rugs in which cotton is used for weft. In looms such as illustrated in Patents #446,177 of February 10th 1891 and 490,237 of January 17th, 1893'1t is practice. ly impossible to use cotton for weft in any of the wider sizes because of this harmful lateral shrinkage of the fabric. In this type of loom the movement of the tube-like tuft guides is such asto leave the free ends of the tuft yarns on the tuft yarns, intermediate the free ends and the guides, is forced down below the bottom shed line in a bight that the weft needle with its weft will pass over the tuft strands,.after which, in the process of weaving the tuft 70 leaving both ends of the tufts on the same side i of the fabric. Any marked shrinkage in the width of the carpet at, or adjacent, the selvage will prevent the tubes from passing down between the correct warp strands.

With tufted carpeting it is impossible to. employ temples at the selvages, such as used on woolen goods, because of injury to the pile, and anyway no temple could retain the war strands in correct register when cotton we is used and the tufts are being inserted through to the back of the carpeting. I have therefore invented a comb touse in connection with the crimp bar employed in the above mentioned patented looms and by its use retain the warp yarns in proper register, and I show two forms of combs, one of which I prefer using under certain conditions.

Fig. 1 shows. an end elevation of my device.

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic illustrations of weaving operations.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged end elevation of a tuft fabric. 1 y

Fig. 7 is a detail of the crinip bar.

In order to present clear and simple drawings I have omitted much of well known mechanism shown in the above mentioned patents and have shown'only enough of the V operating parts to give afull and compre- 100 I hensive description of my invention to one skilled in the art.

needle 9 which is driven in any one of the wellknown methods employed in tuft weaving, such parts making up the well known weavmg inst'rumentalities'.

The-tuft yarn is introduced into the fabric by means of tube-like yarn guides 10 held in 1 spaced uniformit across the loom and in one of the patents cited they are selected by a jacquard, while in the other they are formed into the well known tuft frame 11 actuated by the usual mechanism not shown. But in either instance the tuft guides are held in s aced uniformity which must be equaled by t e spacing of the several strands of warp, otherwise the tubes could not enter and pass through the warp accurately as they must in typical cases like that shown in Fig. 5.

The crimp bar 12 is of the well known'style having two arms 13 pivoted 'at 14 to levers 15 which receive the necessary impulses through connectors 16 from a system of cams and levers not shown, all as in usual practice. The tuft guide tubes enter the shed with a for- Ward slant so as to place the free ends 17 of the tuft yarns 18 against the crimp bar which keeps them on the face of the fabric, while that portion of the tuft yarn intermediate the ends and the yarn guides is down below the lower shed line and in place requisite for the free passage of the weft needle 9 which, while passing through the shed also passes over this intermediate portion of the tuft .yarn. The source of tuft yarn supply is not'shown, being any of the well known types.

Fig; lshows the tuft tubes as raised up after the over and back passage of the weft needle has left the double strands of weft in the shed ready to be beaten to the fell 20 by the reed 7, and the two legs of the tuft are there shown on the same side of the body of the fabric although one leg is still attached to the tuft guide. Figs. 4, 5, 1, 2 and 3 show the several steps. in proper sequence for the forming of a row of tufts across the loom and interweaving with the fabric. The crimp bar 12 has a projection 21 which contacts cam 22, fast to the loom frame, and remains in contact therewith to raise the crimp bar away from the shed, reed and shears as necessary I do for proper weaving. Fig. 4 showsthe reed at the fell and the crimp bar in its rearward movement at the very beginningvof a tuft formation. Fig. 5 illustrates the .tuft guide as down in'the shed, the free ends of the tuft arns as held above the shed by the crimp ar. while the weft is being laid above thetuft by the weft needle. Fig. 1 shows how the tuft guides halve been drawn up out of the way of the advancing reed and of the rearwardly moving crimp bar which approaches and contacts the reed after which the latter, in its adin Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows the crimp bar at its I extreme elevation on cam point 23.

A slight upward movement of the tuft yarn ,guides, just after the reed leaves the shed, assures that the tuftsare drawn up snugly against the bottom of the weft bind- .ing them into the body of the carpeting whereby a smooth even back is produced.

The actuating mechanisrinnot shown, will move the bar forwardly and out of the wa of the shears as shown in Fig. 3, during whic action the reed has been retracted, a second shot of weft 24 inserted and drawn to the fell. It is at'this point that the shears 26'and 27 act in their well known-manner to sever the tuft fromthe yarn guides just after the the warp has been left to the combined alanced tension of the war and'weft, and a variation in either tension will alter the width of the fabric. This might do in narrow fabrics with relatively stiff jute weft,

yarn guides have been raised up to draw ofl" but for wide rugs and with cotton filling the shrinkage is so pronounced that looms described in the above mentioned patents can not weave such fabrics as shown in Fig. 6. I have overcome this difiiculty by adding to the cri'mpbar a series of spaced warp guiding teeth 28 which are brought to anedge at the points 29 and with the shanks parallel. This comb assures that the warp stands and especially those near the selvages of the carpeting, where the greatest lateral" strain comes from the shrinkage, will beheld out.

accurately in auge by the teeth 28 as their spacing coinci es with the spacing of the tuft guides. The reed is of the same uniformity of spacing and the teeth28 enter the warp at the fell just as the reed moves away after .it has beaten the weft up'as shown in Fig. 3.

Therefore the warp strands are held arallel intermediate the teeth of the crimp ar and the reed which permits of an accurate re'gistering and entrance of the tuft tubes for the formation of-tufts on all portions of a wide rug. Such tufted fabric can not be woven on autoniatic power looms unless the warp strands are thus held out accurately in regis ter with the tuft insertion means. Guides 10 are loweredto slacken the tuft yarns and allow for shrinkage when teeth 28 are out of the warp as in Fig. 3.

In Fig. 6 is shown a tufted carpeting in which the tufts are bound under the lower weft shot 8 of the fabric so that the individual tufts show at the back of the carpeting as do the well known Orientals. It is common practice to insert the tufts under one of the weft shots in the upper ply of weft shots,

in which case the pile does not show on the back.

The actuating mechanism for the tuft guides is substantially common to either of the patented looms above mentioned, and when the weft 8 and. the encircling tufts are driven to the fell, the tuft guides are moved forward so as to stand substantially above the fell as shown in Fig. 3.

I have. made no attempt to show any of the well known methods of changing the setup of the jacquard controlled tuft tubes, nor the manner of bringing a subsequent tuft frame into action, because the operation of my invention is the same for'any one tuft yarn guide set up.

The type of loom herein described, in which 5 the free ends of the tuft yarn are always kept on the face of the carpeting, and in which the tuft yarn carriers can draw the other leg of a tuft up snugly against the weft under which the tuft is bound is well adapted for weaving a fabric such as shown in Fig. 6 where the figure formed by thetufts on the face of the carpeting also shows on the back of the goods.

Having thus described my invention, and illustrated it plainly in the drawings I now make the following claims:

1. In a loom for weaving tufted fabrics, in combination, weft insertion means, a source of tuft yarn supply, tuft yarn uides held in spaced relation and operable o position strands of tuft yarns whereby the source of tuft yarn supply and the free ends 'of the strands projecting beyond the guides can be on one side of the shed while that 5 portion of the strands intermediate the ends and the source of supply can be formed into a bight crossing the shed whereby a shot of tuft-binding weft may; be inserted by said first named means through the bight formed by the tuft yarn strands, weaving mstrumentalities, a crimp'bar adjacent to and above the fell for supporting the free ends of the to co-act with said yarn guides to keep the free ends of the tuft yarns on the face of the fabric and rovided with teeth constructed to extend through both lines of the shed whereby the warp is held in register with the spacing of the yarn guides.

3. In a loom for tuft weaving, the combination with a multiplicit of tube-like yarn guides held in spaced uniformity of a toothed crimp bar situated above the warp of the loom and means for actuating the bar whereby the ends of the teeth are moved below the shed line to hold warps in register with the yarn guiding tubes.

4. In a loom for weavin tufted fabrics, the combination with a tuft rame and a warp guiding reed, of a bar positioned above the warp and equipped with yarn engaging teeth spaced eq '-d1stant with the yarn guiding tubes of said frame, and means to actuate said bar adjacent the fell whereby war may be kept parallel between said reed an said teeth.

Oct. 7th, 1929.

CLINTON ALVORD.

tuft yarns and having comb teeth formed to register warp yarns in spaced relation to said spaced guides and retain all such warp strands against disalignment from shrinkage due to weaving'during the insertion of the tuft yarn into and across the shed and a reed operable to beat weft and tuft yarns to the 5o fell.

2. In a loom for tuft weaving, in combination, spaced yarn tufts, weaving instrumentalities, erable to guides operable to insert a reed opbeat weft to the fell and a crimp 55 bar positioned above the warp and operable 

